Six U.S. Army Reservists were the first American troops to be killed in the Iran War. They were killed in Kuwait at a command center in Port Shuaiba by an Iranian retaliatory drone strike one day after the U.S. and Israel launched an attack on Iran. They were part of the 103rd Sustainment Command that supplies equipment and food.
Keira Coady remembered her younger brother, Sgt. Declan Coady, from West Des Moines, Iowa, the youngest of those killed Sunday.
“I still don’t fully think it’s real. And I didn’t think it was real when they told us,” she tearfully said. “Because I just remember all of our conversations about what he was going to do when he came back.”
Keira said she wished she could tell her brother Declan she loved him just one more time. “He was the best little brother you could have,” she said.
Declan’s father, Andrew Coady, said his son loved what he was doing in the military and loved his family.
“Declan had been sending us updates every one to two hours, like, ‘hey, everything’s still good. I’m good,'” Andrew said. “Which goes to show you, you know, he was thinking about us, like, ‘Don’t worry about me,’ and so forth.”
Then, however, the family’s messages went unanswered.
“And your gut starts to get a feeling,” Andrew said. “And then we were going, we go to bed fairly early. So we got ready Sunday night to go to bed and we had just turned the lights off and went into the bedroom, and the doorbell rang at 8 p.m.”
Another victim, also from Iowa, is identified as 45-year-old Maj. Jeffrey O’Brien of Indianola, who leaves behind a wife and children.
Also identified as among those who perished is 54-year-old Chief Warrant Officer Robert Marzan of Sacramento, California.
Sgt. First Class Nicole Amor, from White Bear Lake, Minnesota, was a 39-year-old mother of two, whose husband spoke to her just two hours before she was killed. She was scheduled to return home to her family in less than a week.
42-year-old Sgt. First Class Noah Tietjens of Bellevue, Nebraska, a father to a teenage son, is remembered as a kind and caring friend.
35-year-old Capt. Cody Khork of Winter Haven, Florida, whose family described him as the life of the party with a generous spirit, is also listed among the dead.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the Trump administration is offering its prayers and condolences to the families of those lost.
“These heroes represent the very best among us,” she said. “They laid down their lives in defense of our country, and we will never forget their legacy or their sacrifice.”
President Trump plans to join the grieving families when the soldiers’ remains are returned to the United States at what’s called the dignified transfer, which will happen at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware. The Department of War has yet to announce when that will take place.
